https://sig2perspectives.pubs.asha.org/article.aspx?articleid=1758163Positron Emission Tomography and Single Photon Emission TomographyFor thousands of years, we, as humans, have sought to understand the mechanisms responsible for neural activity (Walsh, 1978). As long ago as 10,000 B.C., craniotomies are known to have been performed. In the 1500s, Vesalius published the first anatomic drawings of the brain after an unprecedented observation and dissection ...2003-04-01T00:00:00ArticleCatherine A. Off

For thousands of years, we, as humans, have sought to understand the mechanisms responsible for neural activity (Walsh, 1978). As long ago as 10,000 B.C., craniotomies are known to have been performed. In the 1500s, Vesalius published the first anatomic drawings of the brain after an unprecedented observation and dissection of the brain. In the 19th century, lesion studies introduced the lesion/deficit hypothesis of neural functioning, which subsequently led to much of the current functional neuroanatomical terminology (e.g., Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas). Through the last few decades of what may be considered modern neural research, a “greater interest in the cognitive correlates of structural and functional brain lesions” has led to the development of today’s technology for imaging the nervous system (Mega, 1999, p. 41).